Well, not really.
PACIFIC RIM is more like legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, rising from the sea to consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, director-producer-screenwriter Guillermo del Toro unleashes massive robots called Jaegers which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge.
It’s the basis for Hollywood’s latest non-sequel tentpole fighting for audience acceptance this summer.
So far AFTER EARTH, WHITE HOUSE DOWN and THE LONE RANGER haven’t been that lucky.
Also hoping for box office approval this weekend is Adam Sandler‘s latest comedy outing. It’s his first-ever sequel. And that could be a good thing for the funster. His last two newies—THAT’S MY BOY & JACK AND JILL—not only crashed and burned in theaters but were awful.
So GROWN UPS 2, a sequel to his last hit three years ago, could finally turn Sandler’s fortunes around.Not only did Sandler surround himself with most of the players from the 2010 original (Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Salma Hayek), he’s added a list of ex-SNL heavyweights like there’s no tomorrow.
They include cameos by Andy Samberg, Bobby Moyniham, Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows, Jon Lovitz, Maya Rudolph and Will Forte. The only one missing is Rob Schneider who was on maternity leave during the shoot.
There’s also Arnold’s kid Patrick Schwarzenegger, Shaquille O’Neal, Maria Bello—and ‘Twilight’s’ Taylor Lautner as a bitchin’ frat boy in the flick.
So who’s going to take the weekend at the movies?
The Transformers-like, special effect laden-creature feature PACIFIC RIM? Or will laffs win out with
Sandler’s return to his small hometown in GROWN UPS 2?
I’m betting on laffs and a box office resurrection for Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions.
Del Toro has brought the magic on more than a few occasions and I am sure he will on this too. With so much material to draw from for mecha inspiration you should be able to do a decent mash up from all the preceding material and make something half decent for the silver screen.
Yep, although the premise seems to be nothing more than Transfomers v. Godzilla, I’ll give GDT the benefit of the doubt and go see this one. Grown Ups 2 on the other hand…hell no.
Yeah, GU2 has ‘phone in for paycheck’ written all over it.